No.
1 Arizona heads into the Christmas break with a perfect record, but
after an undefeated nonconference run last season coach Sean Miller
offered an almost spooky premonition.“You worry sometimes about how many
points you are scoring, how you are playing individually as opposed to
what’s happening as a team,” he said last season just before the
Wildcats began Pac-12 play at 12-0. “Sometimes guys can really get
caught up in their own world. … The longer a season goes on, the more
team dynamics become a factor.“I’m only bringing that up because that’s a
real focus for us moving forward.”Two days after Miller offered those
words, host Arizona needed a controversial wave-off of a Colorado buzzer
shot to escape the Buffaloes in overtime. Then the Wildcats beat lowly
Utah by only three points.And the next week, Arizona went to Oregon and
allowed the Ducks to shoot 56.7 percent in the first half, leading to
UA’s first loss of the season. There were five more losses, costing them
a chance to win the Pac-12 regular-season title.All that after UA
merrily hopped a Christmas night red-eye flight from Honolulu to
Phoenix, having won the Diamond Head Classic, then took a few days
off.“When we got back, we lost our defense,” Miller said. “Our defense a
year ago was very good. It wasn’t as good as this year’s defense.High
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went through a four- to five-week period of time when we got back from
Christmas where we didn’t play nearly tough enough defense to be the
Pac-12 regular-season champions.”Arizona held opponents to 38.9 percent
shooting during the 2012-13 nonconference season but Colorado shot 47.5
percent, even better if Sabatino Chen’s would-be buzzer-beater was not
called off. Utah shot 42.9 percent. Oregon hit 7 of 11 three-point
attempts. And UCLA, while beating up the Wildcats during a “white-out”
game at McKale Center, shot 47.8 percent.Something was wrong. Miller
explained what it was after UA beat NAU 77-44 on Monday to complete
another undefeated nonconference run.
“One
of the things I learned as a coach last year is when you have
selfishness, any chemistry breaks from your team, or one player gets off
on a different page, the first thing that goes isn’t offensive — it’s
defense,” Miller said. “We dealt with a little bit of that when we came
back.The UKs number one wedding website brings you a superb range ofDiscount Beach wedding dresses for sale from
some of the worlds top designers.’“It wasn’t about being 12-0, it was
about us as individuals, and you could see it in effort, concentration,
details.”So after the Wildcats allowed NAU to make 4 of 8 three-point
shots in the second half Monday and were out-rebounded 18-16 after
halftime by their struggling Big Sky opponent, the red flags went
up.Even UA junior guard Nick Johnson saw them.“I think we’re good, but
we can get a lot better,” Johnson said. “Right now we’re a top 10
defensive team, but that was our goal coming into the year. But as a
team we know we can be a lot better than that,Find the perfect Bridesmaid Dresses for
your friends including long bridesmaid dresses, short bridesmaid
dresses, and more. be the No. 1 defensive team in the country if
everyone focuses in on being that. We’ve gotta get ready for this
conference season.”So the goal is to return from their three-day
Christmas break a different group than a year ago. Miller said the 13-0
Wildcats discussed doing so after Monday’s game.“The No. 1 thing that
won’t happen this year — because if it happens, it’s going to be
addressed right away — is our defense” declining, Miller said. “Our
defense has to remain one of the best in college basketball. That is not
easy.“For example, the second half of (the NAU) game isn’t good enough,
not by the standards we judge ourselves by. It leads to the next game,
and individuals who aren’t playing good enough defense, they’re not
going to play.“Sometimes the offense is going to score on us because
they’re really good, but it can’t be because of us. I think that’s the
one commitment we’re making to each other when we return from the
holidays.”
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